My Leech Journey, part one
Part one of an essay on my medicinal pet leeches.
On April 18—eight days after going on a low vitamin A diet—I paid for a consultation with Dr. Garrett Smith, the Nutrition Detective. The consultation included a hair mineral test and a blood test. There were no Lab Corp locations on the Big Island, where I live, so I waited until I visited NYC in late May to get the blood test. The closest Lab Corp location was in Connecticut. I rode the train there on June 1, walked around 30 minutes to a CVS, and got my blood taken. My blood test showed:
—Vitamin A, 60.4 ug/dL. This put me in vitamin A toxicity range on most scales, even though I was 6.5 weeks into my low vitamin A diet. Previously, I’d consumed massive amounts of vitamin A for years via raw milk, raw milk cheese, liver, and ghee. (Vitamin A is nonessential and toxic, according to Garrett Smith, Grant Genereux, and others.)
—Ferritin, 394. This was high too. Lower ferritin has been linked to longer lives.
—Testosterone, 721. I had high testosterone, probably mainly due to eating red meat daily for around two years and getting a lot of sunlight. I expect this to increase as I continue being on a low vitamin A diet and improve my zinc levels.
—Zinc, 80. This was somewhat low. Vitamin A depletes zinc. Retinol-binding protein, which binds vitamin A in the blood, requires zinc to function.
Two months later, on August 1, during my consultation with Dr. Smith, he said I was in the highest 5-10% of vitamin A levels in terms of his patients. He recommended I donate blood once every eight weeks, mainly to lower my ferritin.
Donating blood seems to be a highly effective way to detox. 21st-century blood is filled with hundreds to thousands of new and old toxins, from “forever chemicals” to plastic, glyphosate, and aluminum. A 2005 study titled “Body Burden: The Pollution in Newborns” researched the toxins in umbilical blood. The authors of the study wrote,
Of the 287 chemicals we detected in umbilical cord blood, we know that 180 cause cancer in humans or animals, 217 are toxic to the brain and nervous system, and 208 cause birth defects or abnormal development in animal tests. The dangers of pre- or post-natal exposure to this complex mixture of carcinogens, developmental toxins and neurotoxins have never been studied.
Besides removing toxins, bloodletting also removes essential nutrients. The goal is to intake essential nutrients while minimizing toxin intake, so that the blood becomes cleaner over time.
The next blood drive on the Big Island wasn't until mid-September, and there seemed to be only two blood drives a year, one on this side of the island, one on the other. I didn't want to wait until September to give blood. So I emailed 5-7 places asking if they did therapeutic phlebotomies. Most didn't. One that I lived near did.
At the doctor’s office on August 14, the nurse held up a plastic bag of “saline” and said she’d put 200ml of it into me after draining 200ml of blood, then drain 200ml more blood and put 200ml more saline into me.
I asked if they put in saline during blood donations. She said no. She said they give you juice maybe (to drink), but no saline. I asked if I could forego the saline. She said that would probably be fine, but she needed to ask the doctor. She left the room.
When she returned, she said it was fine, and I said, “I’d just rather not have things put into me. I’m really sensitive.” I thought of how regulatory agencies for the UFC can tell if someone had used an IV bag—to rehydrate after cutting weight—by checking the plastic levels in their blood.
The nurse said she wouldn't want the saline either, as she didn't know what kind of electrolytes were in it. She rubbed Everclear on my skin. The normal kind of thing people use to sterilize skin is very toxic, she said.
As she drained my blood, we talked. I said I was on a low vitamin A diet. She said she knew multiple people on a low vitamin A diet and that she was trying it too, except milk—she was still drinking raw milk and kefir.
I felt the same—not light-headed or anything—after she took 400 milliliters of blood, which was maybe 10 percent of my blood, I later calculated.
The next day, I had significantly lower levels of compulsive internet activity, and I felt more energized than normal. I wanted to keep bloodletting.
Around two weeks later, during my twenty-minute morning meditation, intermittently killing mosquitoes in the air and on my arms, I wondered how much blood mosquitoes took. Around 5 microliters per bite, I learned online later; 200 mosquito bites would equal 1 milliliter of blood. I estimated I got bit an average of 10 times per day, losing 1 milliliter of blood to mosquitoes every 20 days; at this rate, it would take 22 years for mosquitos to take 400 milliliters of blood from me.
I thought of leeches. Dr. Smith had mentioned in one of his livestreams that some people—especially Muslims—offered leeching. One leech could drink 10 milliliters of blood per feeding, I learned online. Continuing my leech research, I realized with excitement that anyone could order medicinal leeches. I looked up online leech sellers. One sold halal leeches, which were raised on halal blood.
The next day, a Thursday, I decided to buy Hirudo verbana leeches from North America BioPharma. The large ones were sold out. The smallest were sold out. I ordered three medium-sized (~1 gram) leeches.
On Friday, I looked at leech photos online. On Twitter, @squirtstain sent me a photo of a leech with a pink ribbon tied on it. I saw that there were colorful leeches. The more I looked at leeches and thought about leeches, the more I liked them.
On Saturday, I got an email notification saying the leeches had been delivered to the mail store (I have no mailbox). It was 2 p.m. and I was FaceTiming my parents at 2:30 p.m. I didn’t have time to get the leeches before the mail place closed at 3 p.m.. The internet said leeches could survive 3-4 days in the mail. The mail place was closed on Sundays. Monday would be day 4.
I talked to my parents about leeches. My dad said he had a leech once on his eye. In an email later, I asked him to elaborate. He replied,
when i was about 13. all kids are swimming at nearby river. which has water grass and lot of leeches because no polutions. when i dive at the bottom one leech might have to contact my face and stick on my eye lip. after diving and float to surface i foind o can not open my one eye. so i used my hand to pull it off. at that ancient w time leech was not dangerous because no water pollution. it happened to me few times a year. when all kids were swimming in wide river.
Sunday, at the farmers market, I bought an elegant-looking, heavy glass bowl for the leeches.
Monday morning, I went to get the leeches. The mail place hadn’t opened yet. It was 9:15 and it opened at 10:00. Also, I realized, it was Labor Day.
At home, I saw online that the mail place was closed on federal holidays. I would get the leeches the next morning, then—day 5. If they were dead, I would order more.
Read part two here.
I appreciate this cliffhanger ending. I hope the little leeches are okay. They are sluglike and Shai Halud-like.
I am very interested in having less compulsive internet activity due to bloodletting